Comforting Arthur
by carolina-28
Summary: Arthur is suffering, has a missing servant, a kitten and not a clue.


Fluffy goodness in kitten form.

Merlin/Arthur

posted at my lj carolina_28

Warning: This a story with the slash pairing of Merlin/Arthur

Thank you to goodythreeshoes for the first review and advice. I'm glad you enjoyed it :D

*****

_Evening_

_  
_  
It was getting late as Arthur sagged into his beautifully ornate, though right now extremely uncomfortable chair. He ached less after a strenuous training session with his men. He needed Gaius to provide a strong potion and preferably _now_. He had got through the day, Gods knew how, but now he had to rest. He could barely move and wasn't sure if he could manage to remove his clothes without help.

Where was Merlin?

His servant was prone to taking his person away at the most frustrating times when his first responsibility should be fulfilling Arthur's needs. He would have to schedule in a chat as soon as he found out the idiot's whereabouts.

His limbs felt heavy and despite his great need for water and care, he could barely raise an eyebrow never mind stand. Eyes streaming, head pounding, the Prince heaved a relieved sigh at the sound of knocking on the doorway to his chambers.

"Come in," he ordered but it came out as a rather hoarse croak.

"Gaius, just the man," Arthur groaned as he swallowed thickly and winced at the pain.

The Royal physician moved swiftly for someone of his elder years. Relieved to have useful aid (Gaius was far better than Merlin) Arthur shut his eyes for a moment before explaining his symptoms and answering all questions posed. As he did so, he was prodded to move to his bed and assisted to become comfortable.

"So when did you start feeling like this Sire?" Gaius asked as he laid a hand on the Prince's forehead.

Arthur tried to recall and realised that he had been fine as he prepared for bed the previous night and it had only been as he awoke that the pain had begun to set in.

"Well it's hard to say Sire bit it seems that you have developed an adverse reaction to something which is the reason for your current discomfort," the physician explained in his usual stiff manner. Only the brief pat on Arthur's shoulder showed his concern.

"I'll prepare a potion to alleviate the majority of aches and pains but until we discover the root cause that is all they'll do unfortunately." With a respectful nod, Gaius walked to the door.

"Gaius," Arthur called belatedly remembering another thorn in his side, "If you see that boy who calls himself my servant usher him along before I lose my patience."

"Yes Sire, very good Sire." his physician bowed his head briefly before leaving.

Arthur felt the last of his energy drain away as his head dropped onto cushiony warmth, cosiness settled around his feet, his eyes closed and before he realised the Prince was asleep.

*****

_Morning__  
_  
There was far too much banging and calamity going on and in his general vicinity. Ye Gods his head ached.

He must have slept right through if the constant brightness pushing through his closed lids was any judge. After an infernal struggle, Arthur managed to open his eyes and cursed as the sunlight temporarily blinded him.

"Agh, what the heck is going on?" he muttered.

"Talking to yourself again?" a sweet voice, which in Arthur's opinion belied the personality of the woman who wielded it, interrupted his self-indulgent groans.

"Morgana," he acknowledged gruffly then stared as he realised that she was in his chambers whilst he lay in bed.

"What...how?"

"I'll translate that to..._Why are you here_...shall I?" her amused laugh really wasn't amusing Arthur decided but rather spoiled his scowl as a blaze of fiery pain ran up his temple.

"You have to try and relax," she mock scolded, "Gwen and I have been tending to you and fortunately up until now you've been unconscious which makes for a better patient."

Arthur pulled a face, which again caused no end of discomfort, which was the last straw. He couldn't even enjoy teasing Morgana properly.

"What about Gaius?" he wondered recalling now his conversation with the elderly physician.

"Still looking for the cause of your symptoms," Morgana said before twisting a soaking cloth then pressing it to his brow.

"Now lie still and don't move until I come back," she warned and chuckled at his disgruntled attempt to portray annoyance without moving his face.

As it looked like she was leaving, he decided to ask in passing, "Where's Merlin? Has he done anything resembling work since I've been here?"

The knowing smile and quirked eyebrow annoyed him but he ignored them resolutely and stared as pointedly as he could manage without moving any of his facial features. As a Prince, he exuded authority so it should still work.

"I've not seen him but I'll ask Gaius," she smirked.

"But I've already asked..."

Morgana swept from the room in a dramatic fashion.

Arthur glowered.

*****

_Midday__  
_  
He was going to strangle the next person who entered the room. Arthur wasn't choosy, anyone would do although he had certain preferences, and he especially liked to imagine the feel of neckerchiefs twisting in his hands.

He had patiently suffered the attentions of Gaius, that witch Morgana and his father's brooding presence, which rather made him, feel worse. There was still no explanation as to why he felt so poorly and if he heard another... _Can I get you anything Sire..._ then he would scream. Princes didn't emit such girly sounds thus proving his parchment thin patience with the situation.

The sound of knocking caught his attention; he adjusted his position to get more comfortable causing his bed to squeak quietly and called for the person to enter.

It was Gwen, Morgana's servant. Not his servant as that would be far too convenient..._obviously._

"Sire," she acknowledged quietly then began to move around the room tidying up before moving to his bedside.

"That's Merlin's job," Arthur found himself announcing and frowned as a curl rolled at the edge of the maid's lips. She spent far too much time with Morgana, thankfully, the witch had only one servant or the Castle would be running amok with her clones.

She didn't make any comment on this but merely checked his temperature and provided him with more potions from Gaius.

"Gaius will check on you early evening," she informed, "try to sleep meantime Sire."

Arthur frowned as he watched her walk to the door.

"Guinevere, have you seen my servant?" he asked.

"Merlin?"

At his impatient nod, she quickly answered. "No Sire, I haven't seen Merlin since the day before this."

"That'll be all then." Arthur waved her from the room, swigged the potion and drank heavily from his goblet of water.

He was beginning to feel concern mix with his previous annoyance over his servant's disappearing act. It wasn't like Merlin to vanish, and despite being a pathetic excuse for a servant he was not lazy.  
Leaving his duties to another wasn't what he would expect from Merlin.

He had now asked Gaius (who was like a father to Merlin), Morgana (who doted on the fool) and Guinevere (who obviously had feelings for the idiot) if they had seen Merlin and with no joy.

He wanted to get up and search but his body wouldn't cooperate. An image ran through his mind of Merlin lying in a tangled, blood soaked heap in the middle of nowhere and all alone. With a growl, he kicked out with his feet and ignored the sharp pain, which protested this sudden movement.

Something else protested.

_Squeak..._At first he thought it was the bed groaning as it adjusted to his shift of weight but then he paused.

_Squeak..._Flinging the silken sheets from his body, quite oblivious to any pain, Arthur stared at the sight at the bottom of his bed. There lay a small ball of black fluff.

What?

It soon became apparent that it was in fact a kitten and by the way it cowered was patently terrified. Arthur had no experience with kittens but knew to be gentle as he picked up the cowering animal by the scruff of the neck and held it up to look into its tiny face. Bright blue eyes stared back like a creature of prey caught in a trance by a stalking predator.

"There, there, don't panic now, I won't hurt you," he murmured as he stroked the silky ebony sheen that covered the little body.

Soon the only sound in the room was soft purring as the kitten rubbed its face against whatever part of Arthur it could reach.

The dart of a little tongue flicked against his wrist and Arthur laughed.

"Are you hungry?"

He grabbed a pitcher of milk and poured some into an empty bowl then placed it on the floor. As soon as it was able, the kitten scurried over to lap at its leisure making more noise than should be possible for so little a creature.

Arthur laughed at its delicate greed.

As he did, his body shook and pain lanced through his body once more and he staggered over to lie back on his bed.

_Knock Knock_

Damn that must be Gaius with more potions for later. He would have to hide the kitten or his only source of amusement would be withdrawn.

Struggling to his feet again, he dragged the wriggling kitten away from the bowl, emptying it quickly then placing it under the sheet and holding a hand over its small mouth. Honestly he was silencing a kitten what was he doing?

"Come in!" he called and winced at the strain to his throat and the movement of the kitten. How it had remained undetected by both him and the others he couldn't tell.

It was the physician and Arthur watched impatiently as the man laid out fresh potions and provided instruction on how to administer them.

"Yes, _thank you _Gaius but I feel a bit tired now..." he trailed off glancing at the doorway and back to Gaius knowing that he seemed rude but really not wanting to alert the man to his small fur ball of a visitor which presently was nibbling on his fingernails by the feel of it.

"Very well Sire, if you're certain that you have all you need..." the physician prodded.

"Mm hmm, oh yes...thank you Gaius," Arthur said after fighting for composure as he poked the tiny devil, which had dug a badly timed claw into his wrist.

He watched and waited until the other man had closed the door behind him.

Flinging back his covering Arthur glared at the unrepentant animal who now sat innocently licking its paws and ignoring him.

"You're nearly as annoying as Merlin, it's a good thing you are cute or I wouldn't have you around." he bit out then felt bad as it blinked big blue eyes up at him.

A piteous sound accompanied the look and Arthur felt terrible. He didn't know how he had succumbed to being controlled by a kitten.

"Time to sleep little man, or I assume you're a man." Arthur didn't feel the need to check, patted the space beside him, and chuckled as the tiny creature turned up its small nose and padded to the foot of the bed and promptly sat on his feet.

"Right you are," he murmured softly.

"You can help me find my sap of a servant in the morning as there's no way I'm staying in bed tomorrow pain or not," Arthur declared to his new friend and pulled the sheet over them both to settle for the night.

_*****_

_The following morning._

Arthur heard the sound of birdsong and for the second morning in a row bright sunlight. Thankfully, this time as he slowly opened his eyes there was no difficulty and Ye Gods _no pain_. He wasn't sure why but he wasn't complaining. He closed them again still tired and needing to fully recuperate now that he could enjoy pain free sleep. Arthur felt the warmth around his feet that he associated with the kitten and sighed in pleasure. He frowned for a second as it didn't feel quite right, not fluffy or like a kitten at all. Huh?

A slow slide of something silky moved against his feet. Opening his eyes abruptly, Arthur meant to check to see what was going on under his sheets when something quite quite different and shocking caught his eye and made him freeze in shock. The blazing heat he had felt since awakening suddenly made sense as he stared his fill.

Merlin lay beside him curled up in a ball, eyelashes flickering over high cheekbones and puffing out soft steady breaths. Arthur jerked the sheet upward and caught a glimpse of feet tangled in silk sheets moving against his own in a soothing rhythm. Then his eyes moved higher up his servant's body and he drank the vision in.

_My Lord.__  
_  
Arthur searched around quickly for the kitten but it wasn't anywhere that he could see. He would have to deal with the more pressing matter of Merlin who after being AWOL for a day had now turned up remarkably in his bed. Trying to ignore his body's reaction to the presence in his bed Arthur cleared his throat and when that didn't work took hold of the other man's shoulders and shook them vigorously until small groans of protests signalled he was awakening.

Fixing a look of disapproval on his face Arthur awaited the opening of his servant's eyes.

When they did a look of such panic came over Merlin's face that he almost smiled. No Merlin hadn't planned this as much as he might have wished it. That was not important though what he wanted to know was why his lover had taken off when he was poorly and for all Merlin knew on his bloody deathbed. A glare at this realisation wiped any traces of a smile from his face.

"Want to tell me where you've been for the last day?" he ordered in strict tones which usually never failed to turn Merlin on but on this occasion wasn't trying to produce _that_ particular response.  
Not yet anyway.

"Erm, I...I'm not sure," Merlin mumbled still staring around him as if he had no idea how he had got here.

Arthur rolled his eyes at this typical bumbling display and ignored the small voice, which whispered that he secretly found it rather sweet.

"Why am I not surprised. Well you'll be pleased to know that I'm feeling much better now," he said looking at Merlin pointedly as if to emphasise the fact that Merlin hadn't been there.

"I had more care and attention from a bloody kitten than you Merlin, nice to know you care," he grumbled and decided he really didn't like the idea that the man whom he would do anything for didn't feel the same about him.

Merlin looked miserable, eyes lowered, but Arthur forced himself to feel no guilt or sympathy.

He felt his control slip at the sight of Merlin's trembling mouth and reached out to gather him close. His fingers were about to close round the other man's wrist when Merlin vanished. In his place sat the kitten. Arthur gaped at the familiar ball of black fluff, which now sat, in place of his lover.

_"Merlin!"_

_*****_

_  
_"So you see Sire, that is why you felt so ill, an allergy to Merlin in kitten form," Gaius explained as if such occurrences happened every day.

Arthur had known Merlin was a warlock but not that he could transform into a kitten whenever he was upset or scared.

As the physician had explained, Merlin had received word that his mother Hunith was ill. Without intent, he had become a small vulnerable animal, which had sought out the one person who could protect him.

_Arthur_.

He wasn't sure whether to feel annoyed at the idiot for being the cause of his pain or proud that it was him whom Merlin had chosen. To be honest he was really just glad that he was safe but it wouldn't do to let Merlin know that. He could pretend annoyance for a while and enjoy Merlin making it up to him.

"Arthur," Merlin called from his antechambers.

Striding through not knowing what to expect Arthur came to a stand still. His love was naked as the day he was born with one exception...a rather splendid tail.

"This one's not real but you can stroke it if you want," the tease prompted when Arthur still couldn't speak.

Coming to the conclusion that words were overrated, the Prince marched over to claim his prize. As he threw Merlin on the bed the squeak and following moans were decidedly louder than before.

Finis


End file.
